Team USA Wins Eight Medals In Europe

byCollege BoxeronNovember 28, 2011

Eight U.S. boxers took home hardware from two international events in Europe over the weekend. Team USA won three medals at the Olympic Test Event in London, England and five American athletes advanced to semifinal competition at the World Cup of Petroleum Countries in Surgut, Russia. Both competitions took place November 24-27 with different U.S. squads competing in the key international events.

Flyweight Marlen Esparza (Houston, Texas) advanced to final round action at the World Cup following two victories in Russia. Esparza opened the tournament with a 21-16 win over Nandintsetseg Myagmardulam of Mongolia before taking a 14-12 decision over home nation boxer Alexandra Kuleshova of Russia in semifinal action. Esparza dropped a slim 10-8 decision to her second straight Russian foe, Svetlana Gnevanova, in the championship bout to win a silver medal.

Heavyweight Joseph Williams (Queens, N.Y.) took home a silver medal as well, advancing to the championship bout at the Olympic Test Event in London, England. Williams earned his first victory of the event on opening day, taking a decision over a home nation boxer as well, as he defeated Great Britain’s Simon Valilly, 15-11, on Thursday. Williams added a second victory to his win total on Saturday, defeating Kamran Mehdiyev of Azerbaijan, 17-10 to advance on to the finals. Unfortunately, an injury kept Williams from competing in the final round contest on Sunday and he returns to the United States with a silver medal.

Kahn Clary, Spence and Shimmell all opened the tournament with quarterfinal victories, but each fell to Russia foes in semifinal action. Kahn Clary dropped an 18-10 decision to Ruslan Kamilov, 2012 Olympian Spence lost a 12-12 tiebreaker to Sukhrob Shidaev, and Shimmell was defeated by an 8-4 margin by Vladimir Lokaychuk. Mitchell lost his tournament opener in semifinal action to Russia’s Ilya Rudenko.

The World Cup squad traveled to Ukraine on Monday where they will face their national team in dual action.

The Olympic Test Event squad is currently en route back to the United States.

USA Boxing National Coach Joe Zanders (Long Beach, Calif.) and Gloria Peek (Norfolk, Va.) led the athletes into action in London with Jose Martinez (Bryan, Texas) serving as Team Manager. Ken Porter (Akron, Ohio), Ed Rivas (Abilene, Texas) and Everette Elliston (Denver Colo.) are coaching the team at the World Cup of Petroleum Countries and USA vs. Ukraine Dual with Bruce Kawano (Pearl City, Hawaii) serving as the Technical Advisor, and Ken Buffington (Marshalltown, Iowa) joining the squad as Team Manager.

U.S. Results

Olympic Test Event, London, England

Sunday, November 27 - Finals U.S. heavyweight Joseph Williams was forced to withdraw from his final round bout due to injury